Exploring the mediating effects of academic performance and self-esteem on the influence of sleep quality on internalizing and externalizing problems among Chinese adolescents

Abstract

This study examines the associations between sleep quality and internalizing and externalizing problems among Chinese adolescents and investigates whether academic performance and self-esteem function as mediators. Data were obtained from the 2018 wave of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), comprising a sample of 1,016 Chinese adolescents aged between 10 and 15 years. We employed multiple mediation models, using Hayes’ PROCESS macro, for data analysis. The results showed that poor sleep quality was associated with an increase in both internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, academic performance and self-esteem were identified as mediators in these relationships, operating in parallel and sequential manners. Besides maintaining adequate sleep hours, interventions aimed at improving academic performance and self-esteem could potentially alleviate the adverse effects of poor sleep quality on internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents.